Chasing Minnesota

The Minnesota Vikings have a quarterback who easily rests atop the list of America's all-time greatest self-obsessed bullshit artists. (If you heard his "good Lord" nonsense in the post-game presser, you understand why he's impossible to like. If there is a God, he sure as hell doesn't care about your completion percentage, Brett.)

The Minnesota Vikings have a running back casually referred to as the game's best, even while he continues a disturbing career trend of putting the ball on the ground.

The Minnesota Vikings have a defense that, while loaded with talent, also possesses a stunning repertoire of celebratory dances. These are not reserved for big plays either. Every tackle earns a little Agnes de Mille. And no one embodies "me-first" worst than Jared Allen.

The Vikings, almost overnight, have become about superstars and camera time. They've become the most unlikable group of ballplayers in the league. They're the kind of team it is fun to chase for a division title. And with Green Bay's offensive line havoc, it looks like the race will be a two-horse one.

I like our horse. I like our quarterback who hates every second behind media
microphones. The guy doesn't need to run the length of a football field to
celebrate every touchdown in a desperate attempt to show how much fun
he's having. He'd prefer helicoptering his body into the end zone for game-tying touchdown. (Still waiting for Mike Martz' response to that play...)

I like that we have one of the best running backs in the sport and he doesn't seem to know it. Or care.

I like that our receivers have shocked the football universe by performing like one of the league's best units and not one of them has arrogantly shot their mouths off at the media and fans who doubted them daily.

I like our defense, who reserve celebratory dances for
celebration-worthy moments. (Outside of AB's gator chomp, I don't
think we have a dance.) The biggest star on the Chicago Bears' roster
has a cast on his wrist but is proudly standing on the sideline, doing his best Mike Brown impression.

It's night and day now in the NFC North. Good and evil. Sometimes sports come down to binaries as basic as that. For the sake of everyone, I hope it plays out on the freezing night of December 28th in front of the Soldier Field faithful. A classic battle in the finest arena. I know what side I'll be on. The good side.

Comments

Well said and I couldn't agree more. That stupid calf-tying thing of Jared Allen's makes me want to vomit. I hope Pace puts him on his arse a few times when we face them. I truly believe that if a team can hit Favre and hit him a lot the guy will crack and put the ball up. Combine that with AP's willingness to cough it up and you've got some opportunity. I like the good guys, too. Let's prove that this is indeed a team sport.

I would rather be good than likeable...I'm pretty sure Jeff agrees with that. However, I don't agree with Doc, that if Favre and Allen were here, all of us would be singing their praises as 'blue-collar lunch bucket Chicago guys. First off, that blue collar Chicago stuff is way overplayed in my opinion. I mean, it seems like most of the people on here aren't even from Chicago to begin with, so we should probably not hype this line of thinking to begin with since Bear fandom clearly extends beyond city limits. Second, if the Bears had Favre and Allen, I'd root for them because they are Bears...but I'd still lack respect for Favre after all of the antics he has pulled, and Allen for just being a douchebag hillbilly. Example...I root for Mark Anderson because he is a Bear, but I also dislike that he treats every positive play he makes like he won the damn superbowl. I like Peanut because he is a Bear, but I dislike that he often loses his head in key situations that can cost his team(for instance, pushing Johnson to the ground after the pass was incomplete last week, or hitting the Lion out of bounds and celebrating...could have been flagged both times...I guarantee he will get flagged again this year at a key moment for something stupid because he isn't thinking.

All that said, I think right now, the Vikings are the best team in this division. Things can change, however, and I'm positive we've not seen this Bears team play it's best football yet. If the division does come down to a cold game in December at Soldier Field, I'd say the Bears have a clear advantage...Favre is not the same in those conditions at his older age, all evidence says so.

It was a love fest last night! I had to mute Jon Gruden who was all over Favre. I am built to dislike the Packers because of Favre, but know that he is on the Vikings, It was a toss up last night. I was split. Can I choose the lesser of two evils?

Narcissus had a huge night, Green Bay's O-Line was ano-show and STILL it was a one-possession game and Aaron Rogers threw for a career high in yards.

I was with Jaws. The Packers should have kicked it instead of going for the TD when it was 28-14. It was still only the 3rd quarter!

Isn't it time we retired the infantile "First" posts. Especially since, due to the vagaries of computers and the internet, you really can't be sure you ARE first. Kudos,Mike Phipps, for not going there.

I also echo Mike Phipps opinion of Jared Allen's inane "calf-ropin'" post-sack routine and I fail to understand why that is not considered taunting.

I'm with Kentucky, because I enjoy good football more than I enjoy to simply hate a team because of their fan base. The Vikings play serious ball, and barring injuries to Favre, AP, Hillbilly and the Williams Wall, they'll be there to battle us in the end and I for one would have it no other way. I've always had an admiration for Favre, up until the last 4 years with the waffling and getting a peak behind the curtain to see just what kind of person he can be. That being said, he's still a hell of a football player, period. If he breaks down, so be it, but it'll be interesting to see if Peyton can catch him in the record-books. If AP fumbles 15 times a season, I could care less because that man can win you 4 games BY HIMSELF. If he plays for 10+ years and stays healthy, he could be the best that ever was, and I'm a huge Sweetness fan.

All that being said, I think we match up well with them. I think we have the ability to take it away from AP, and stay close enough that our special teams can shut the door in the 4th quarter. Against that D, I think going no-huddle makes a hell of alot of sense. Their big boys up front don't have the wind to hang in for a fast-paced 10+ play drive, and that kind of pace can keep Cutler clean. Great post Jeff, if we're healthy at the end of the season I think we can take the Division and the NFC(as long as we get the Saints at Soldier Field, they're freakin' scary). Bear Down.

I do think our D celebrates a little too much. They celebrate on a 1st or 2nd down sac and then far too oft times allow first downs on 3rd and forever. They need to play the business like approach. Celebration on 3rd down stops that force punts ok, safeties ok, int's ok, fumble recovery ok.

i agree with most of this, but sir, NONE of those states even come CLOSE to country lol. i'm from Arkansas (and have been to Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Flordia, & Texas). THAT'S country. not taking anything away from Oregon, Colorado, Idaho....Alaska doesn't count lol...but take it from a Southerner by way of Chicago....you have to be in the South to understand country (ask Kentucky up there lol)

This post is on target...the Minnesota Vikings are all talent and no team, and their fanbase is completely ok with selling themselves to a person they once hated.

As for Favre being a Bear, it wouldn't have ever happened. Jared Allen I could see, but if that had come about, he would have had a serious conversation with Mr. Kreutz, Mr. Urlacher, and Mr. Brown about that calf ropin' bullshit. But since he's on the Dallas Cowboys...I mean the Minnesota Vikings, his post play antics are encouraged.

And it should be about good and evil...at least in the mind of the fan. As a Bear's fan, I do think it's wrong for people to cheer for any other team because I love mine so damn much, AND THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT.

Gone are the days of self deprecation and peaceful discussions. I'm an arrogant man. Why you ask? Not because I'm anything special, but because the Bears are my team. The Bears who play football the right way, with their motors running and their mouths shut.

That's why the Bears are good...and that's something to be damn proud of.

Agreed. Substitute the Bears in for the Vikes and I'm not sure we do much better. Except that odds are better than not that we'd score on 4 tries from the 1, that Cutler gets marginally better protection and that he gets rid of the ball a couple times more than Rodgers did - he held it way too long. Then again if he doesn't hold it that long he probably does not throw for as many yards.

Point being the queens look solid and the Favre and AP are both going to be near impossible to stop, from a scheme or a personnel perspective. Lovie would have to call a near perfect game.

1. Cutler is moments away from going crybaby because his passing stats suck after 4 games:

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/hayes/1810643,CST-SPT-neil07.article

2. We're not ready to face Minnesota until we get our O sorted out.

My take: I would trade Forte for Peterson and so would everybody else here if they were in the GM seat.

Farve is all about Farve, but so what? It's the NFL. How much ill will do you send Jim McMahon because he finished up with the Eagles teaching Randall Cunningham patience? Exactly.

Farve gets to keep his GB steakhouse and pockets major coin this year. He wasn't going to make it in the booth like Aikman and Steve Young, he's got the camera presence of Magic Johnson but with even less diction.

Take the bloody money - but yeah I want to see the Bears beat the Vikes. People from the Land o Lakes are insufferable normally. Now that they think they are the best in the NFC it is really awful.

Cutler's stats suck ? His numbers are better than Brady's. Brady has a lower comp. % than Cutler and only 4 TDs and 2 INTs. Cutler has 8 TDs and 5 INTs (only 1 in the last 3 games). What the hell has BRady done this season ?He almost had 4 game winning drives the last 4 games if you take out the Bears secondary's brain freeze at GB. Given his age, I wouldn't swap Cutler for any QB in the NFL right now. Turtlehead Manning is in the twilight time ... he's supposed to be good at this point in his career. And as for Brady, even Matt Cassell looked good in that system.

Half of my family is from Chicago, the other half is from downstate Illinois (farmers and such)...
What I do not understand is how "country" became code for "hillbilly" in the last 20 years. I see people out here in the midwest wearing big ol' beltbuckles and talking with a twang that haven't smelled a cow fart.
It's bizarre to me. Being country didn't use to mean acting like a jackass redneck; it just meant you knew what you were doing outside the city limits.
That's why I call Jared Allen a hillbilly; he's a big fake.

There is something very, very gay about Jared Allen's rope-tying sack dance. I could see him doing that as part of some gay cabaret act ... if imagining such things was em ... whatever ...

Watching Mike Martz et al creaming all over Brett Favre's performance in the post-game show I found myself wanting to scream at the TV. Flawless. Amazing. What a guy .... WTF ? What game were they watching ? Yeah, he had a good completion percentage, sure. Not hard when most of your passes are little dinks and dunks. It's not hard to find open receivers when you have ALL DAY to throw the ball. The pass rush was in the opposite direction to the QB. The GB D-line was manhandled all night. How the hell did we losr to these jokers ? Aaron Kampmann looks ridiculous doing his impersonation of a linebacker, I mean how many linebackers in the NFL have stupendous beer guts ? And I'm sorry, as pathetic as GB were, they probably should have won that game - Brett Favre threw an interception in GB's endzone - there was a bullshit pass interference call on that play, and then AP scores on a misdirection. GB tore up the Minnesota secondary by hitting TEs in the seam. If Aaron Rodgers can do that, then Jay Cutler certainly can. I don't understand all the hype around Rodgers, hes a train wreck. Holds on to the ball waaaay too long. He's reluctant to throw it away. He's reluctant to scramble, probably from being the most dumped QB in the NFL and fears he won't last the season. Unfortunately, Favre looks as though he may well last all season judging by Minnesota's great pass protection. Their D-line will give us bigtime problems. If the Pack can contain AP so can we, the run blocking wasn't spectacular for Minnesota. So it looks like a shootout when we play the Vikes, the games coming down to special teams and how much Cutler can pull out of the bag. Maybe we can sweep them with Cutler and bring the pain on Cletus.